Children can eat breakfast, lunch at 2 schools during summer

This summer the District 211 Food Service departments will be serving both breakfast and lunch during summer school. As in previous years, the department will offer a complimentary breakfast to all district students enrolled in summer school before the start of the school day.

Last summer, District 211 piloted a summer meal program at Palatine and Hoffman Estates High Schools, which was operated under the USDA Seamless Summer feeding program. The meal program provides all community children 18 years and younger a free breakfast and lunch, regardless of what school they normally attend.

This summer Palatine High School will continue to participate in the program. In addition, Schaumburg High School has met the requirements to be a program participant. Schools that operate a summer feeding program where 50 percent or more of children in the community qualify for free and reduced meals are eligible to participate. This program allows Palatine and Schaumburg high schools to provide nutritious meals to their students, as well as children in the community not enrolled in summer school.

"The summer feeding program in the district allows us the opportunity to continue providing children with nutritious meals during a time when access to meals often decreases due to the summer break," said Stacy Lenihan, director of Food Service at District 211.

Both schools will have summer breakfast and lunch hours for the community available to all students in the cafeteria during the duration of summer school and a variety of options will be available for breakfast and lunch daily. Although the Seamless Summer Program is not available at Fremd and Conant high schools, students will have the opportunity to receive a free breakfast before the start of the school day and have access to lunch options available at regular rates. Hoffman Estates High School will not operate a summer school program or offer meal service this summer.

Last summer, 23,161 total breakfasts were served districtwide, which equates to 900 breakfasts served each day. Districtwide breakfast participation increased by 39 percent from the prior year. Additionally as part of the Seamless Summer Program, Hoffman Estates High School served 15,974 lunches, which is a 714 percent increase from the previous year and Palatine High School served 16,946 total lunches, a 317 percent increase from summer of 2014.

In addition to breakfast and lunch options, a la carte options and items in the vending machines will be available for purchase. These purchases can be made with cash or in the cafeteria with a child's prepayment account, which will be accessible to in-district students. Deposits can be applied to a student's prepayment account by check or cash with a cashier in the cafeteria. The online credit card prepayment system will not be available during summer school, but will resume prior to the start of the school year. Account balances from the school year will transfer with students to their summer school building.

An online application to qualify for free and reduced-price meals for summer school may be completed electronically through June 17. Or if preferred, a meal application can be mailed by request at (847) 755-6681. A new application for free and reduced-price meals will need to be completed for the 2016-2017 school year. Applications for next school year will be available in late July.

For information about the summer breakfast or lunch programs, contact the District 211 Food Service Department at (847) 755-6680.